I just bought a Yamaha Aventage RX-a2a and upgraded front stage. I’ve calibrated about 5 different times and the sound was pretty good. I stumbled upon your video and decided to try it your way. All I can say is “Wow”. Took my sound to a whole new level. I put on Interstellar which has a lot of mumbled dialogue from the terrible sound mix. I finally could understand the dialogue which now is crystal clear. Amazing insight, and I subscribed to learn more from you. Keep up the excellent videos and information.
Excellent! That's what I love to hear. My gratification comes from being able to help someone else enjoy their system. Thank you for commenting and sharing your experience. 👍🏾
Bro, this is a good idea. You have ratified your previous position with correct reasoning. Agreed, its just building on what the system calibrated for your specific room (its character, placements, distances etc). Its like putting a substructure on a foundation - with calibration being the foundation in this case. Thanks for sharing this deep insight. Share some post-adjusment vids now.
Kool! What's good my brotha. Thank you so much for the feedback. Your assessment couldn't have been more precise. It expresses my exact logic and reasoning. More vids to come. I'm back in the office now so I have to find time in my busy work schedule. 😄
Question: Instead of adding 3 +DB to each of the speaker why didnt you just leave everything at 75db except the center 78db? It is the same thing? Is it? 😁🙏🏻
The gist of this method is to leave it the same, except for adjusting the LFE to match the center. I move it up only to feed my speakers more power. Rather than having to crank the volume to higher levels to achieve the ideal output, I slide everything by 3db. I ran the other method (80 front stage, 77 surrounds) for a while, and it became my normal practice. Until recently after running a calibration, I compared the sound differences between the old method and the method outlined in this vid - my receiver has different sound profiles. I found that the integration of this method was smoother; everything came together with perfection. But always encourage people to try multiple configurations and stick with what works best in your environment. This is simply something that works well for me and I figured I'd share it; perhaps it'll work well for others as well.
Audessy is a good starting point. There's a lot of tweeking that needs to be done after it's done. Verify speaker distance is number 1... Another trick I've learned, is take the distance and multiply that number by 0.875, you'll see an improvement as well.
I have another video that illustrates manual tweeks after calibration, which includes speaker distance, position, crossover points, eq settings, etc. This is only specific to setting the db levels using an SPL meter. YPAO seems to do an excellent job with calibrations - especially with multiple subs. For me, there's not a whole lot that needs changed after calibration. Mainly just crossover points and DBing.
@@PolkFan I wouldn't have thought there would be the need for a lot of tweeking, a foot and a half off. That throws the vocals all off on 2.1 listening. Once corrected, the vocals came to the center and the overall sound was so much better.
@damondhorner1602 Nice. I've measured my distance after calibration and found the settings were spot on. I haven't used any receivers with Audyssey but from my experience with working with people who has Denon, Marantz, YPAO does a better job. I'm running a A2080 now, but eyeballing the A8A. Really don't need it though because the 2080 is such a solid receiver, and there's not much to gain.
Na verdade não, porque o que funciona para o meu sistema não é necessariamente as melhores configurações para o sistema de outra pessoa. A melhor coisa a fazer é começar com uma calibração multiponto e prosseguir a partir daí. No entanto, no início de cada uma das minhas demonstrações de som de clipes de filme, você verá a maioria das minhas calibrações - pontos de cruzamento, níveis de db, etc.
It simply means either your speakers have a really low sensitivity level or your receiver's amplification power isn't that strong. The trim level is high, but you're at your desired db, so you're good to go. Using the Z scale is fine. I also use Z. Both Z and C are pretty much identical between 20-20. Z is more accurate than C below 20hz.
When setting the db levels, first turn your AVR volume to 0, which is reference level on a relative volume display (-70 - 15). If you have an absolute volume display (0-100), set the volume to 80, which is reference level on those systems. Then, run your test tone/pink noise to calibrate the speaker dbs.
A processor does the same thing as an AVR without the amplification element. It wouldn't make sense to use a processor with an AVR. Rather, you'll run a processor with external amps. The benefit in doing so is more power and scalability.
@NaveedKhan-bs1sc Exactly. The amplification power in AVRs drops significantly in multichannel mode, vs separate amps are constantly strong, keeping the same RMS power all the time.
The Test Tones in your AVR bypasses all forms of room correction. I recommend selecting the ‘Generator’ feature in REW and play periodic pink noise with the room correction mode (e.g. YPOA/Audyssey,Dirac-Live) via your AVR enabled LFE is actually a separate channel all together. It is 10db ‘Hot’ by design. I would keep it as such. If you interested in calibrating your subs to a specific SPL then you need to disconnect your Left main speaker and play periodic pink noise at the Sub level (selectable in REW) with the Left Speaker selected in REW. Don’t confuse the LFE channel with low frequency output from your subs (I.e. Yes LFE is low frequency by design but most low frequency material is sent to your subs outside of the LFE channel). The material sent to your subs via LFE is material that the ‘mixer’ of the movie/music designated as part of the mixing process)
I'm good with my method. It's effective and works well. I have no need to use REW for speaker DBing. Many HT users don't use REW or even know what it is. If you'd like to post a vid illustrating a better method, I recommend you go forth and concor. What I've outlined in my vid is simple and doable for most HT users. I'm in the business of helping others achieve awesome sound; not complicating matters by advising them to use tools they most likely don't have or the inclination to obtain.
@ts6640 I do. I also pointed users to a handheld SPL meter from my other DBing vid. Which is also effective and only $30 from Amazon. Using REW requires having a machine to host the software; getting a MIC similar to my UMIK-1, getting the proper connection cables, etc. All that for speaker DBing? Just use the handleheld; it works fine. I mainly use REW for my subs. If it wasn't for the fact that I run four subs, and use MiniDSP 2x4HD, I wouldn't use REW.
@@PolkFan Fair enough, but I do think it is important to note that the internal test tones of the AVR bypasses all room correction modes. Since the vast majority of users use some form of room correction I think it is important to use pink noise with whatever mode the user normally listens to movies/music via his or her AVR. Room correction can alter the specific ‘trim levels’ for any given speaker. UA-cam even has several versions periodic pink noise available or one can download samples and play back via USB. My comment should not be taken a criticism by any means (hell……it is not like the manufacturers of these AVRs are exactly forthright in letting users know of this fact) By the way, I just subscribed to your channel. I like your content!
Hi may I know, example your atmos before +3db, left=74db & right=75.5db its means sound out from this 2 speaker not same, why not get it into same db? I want to learn about this..
The reason you'll see different dB levels like that from calibration is beacuse of multiple factors. Based on the placement of your calibration mic and what it hears during calibration, it'll tell the receiver what adjustments to make in order to make them deliver an even sound to the area of calibration. While the speakers may be identical, the placement of them could differ and possibly cause one speaker to need a db of amplification added in order to make it sound even with the other. For example i may have one front speaker sitting 14.5ft away, angled at 20 degrees, and the other at 13.5ft with the same angle. Both identical speakers, same output, same angel, except one is a foot further from the seating area. That one furthest away may need a tid bit of more volume to sound even with the speaker that's closer. In a perfectly acoustical treated room, the number will be much closer or identical, no adjustments will need to be made. But the majority of our rooms are far from perfect, which is why adjustments are required to overcome the acoustical flaws in our rooms.
Setting all of your speakers to the same db will result in an uneven sound from your system as a whole. Only in a perfect acoustically optimized environment will that work. The goal is to adjust your speakers so that the listener will hear the sound from all speakers evenly in a given area. Based on the acoustics of your room, that may require speaker A with a higher db level than speakers B and C, etc. Versus setting them all to the same db level, one speaker may sound lower than another -effected by the room acoustics.The majority of our rooms are not perfectly acoustically optimized and therefore our speakers must be adjusted accordingly. This is why system calibrations are a necessity. Your speaker must be adjusted for the acoustics of the environment in which they will play. As far as what db level to target correlates to how much volume you want to give your system before it reaches the point that satisfies you. I prefer not having to crank the system to reference level (0 on a relative volume display) before it's loud enough to enjoy, so I target 80db. I typically watch movies with the volume on -15. You can target 75 if you like, it simply means your system will be 5db quieter than mine throughout the volume range.
Z has no weighting and is flat through all frequencies, unlike C that's flat only through 20-20. So for measuring purposes with speakers capable of playing frequencies outside the 20-20 range, you'll get more accurate results. For this particular measurement, it really does matter. You'll get the same thing with either Z or C.
Reference level. For receivers with a relative volume display (-70 - 15), reference level is 0. For receivers with an absolute volume display (0-100), reference level is 80.
Boa noite. Se você está se referindo ao aumento do diálogo, deixo em 0. Esse recurso específico funciona melhor para telas de projeção. Ele mistura o som dos alto-falantes centrais e ATMOS para, teoricamente, elevar a posição do diálogo. A intenção é fazer parecer que o diálogo vem de trás da tela de projeção.
You can both the hand held SPL meter and the MiniDSP mic from Amazon. www.amazon.com/miniDSP-UMIK-1-Measurement-Calibrated-Microphone/dp/B00N4Q25R8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1AEW5OSYHPPBH&keywords=mini+dsp&qid=1666195515&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjIzIiwicXNhIjoiMi42MSIsInFzcCI6IjIuMzAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=mini+dsp%2Caps%2C79&sr=8-2&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0 www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N7I08EJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
hold on mate. your mic is connected to your computer? or direct to the receiver. i don't see any cable that shows your mic connected to the receiver. 🤔
The mic is connected to the computer via USB. When using REW, you'll also need the calibration file upon first use. The calibration file is available from MiniDSP when you purchase the mic from them. This ensures the most accurate readings.
I just bought a Yamaha Aventage RX-a2a and upgraded front stage. I’ve calibrated about 5 different times and the sound was pretty good. I stumbled upon your video and decided to try it your way. All I can say is “Wow”. Took my sound to a whole new level. I put on Interstellar which has a lot of mumbled dialogue from the terrible sound mix. I finally could understand the dialogue which now is crystal clear. Amazing insight, and I subscribed to learn more from you. Keep up the excellent videos and information.
Excellent! That's what I love to hear. My gratification comes from being able to help someone else enjoy their system. Thank you for commenting and sharing your experience. 👍🏾
Bro, this is a good idea. You have ratified your previous position with correct reasoning. Agreed, its just building on what the system calibrated for your specific room (its character, placements, distances etc). Its like putting a substructure on a foundation - with calibration being the foundation in this case. Thanks for sharing this deep insight. Share some post-adjusment vids now.
Kool! What's good my brotha. Thank you so much for the feedback. Your assessment couldn't have been more precise. It expresses my exact logic and reasoning. More vids to come. I'm back in the office now so I have to find time in my busy work schedule. 😄
I do the exact same thing buddy. No matter what anyone tells you or how many videos you watch. Do what sounds good in your room and to your ears.
Amen to that. 👊🏾
Question: Instead of adding 3 +DB to each of the speaker why didnt you just leave everything at 75db except the center 78db? It is the same thing? Is it? 😁🙏🏻
The gist of this method is to leave it the same, except for adjusting the LFE to match the center. I move it up only to feed my speakers more power. Rather than having to crank the volume to higher levels to achieve the ideal output, I slide everything by 3db. I ran the other method (80 front stage, 77 surrounds) for a while, and it became my normal practice. Until recently after running a calibration, I compared the sound differences between the old method and the method outlined in this vid - my receiver has different sound profiles. I found that the integration of this method was smoother; everything came together with perfection. But always encourage people to try multiple configurations and stick with what works best in your environment. This is simply something that works well for me and I figured I'd share it; perhaps it'll work well for others as well.
Because many people tells go with your speakers should be at 75db?
Audessy is a good starting point. There's a lot of tweeking that needs to be done after it's done. Verify speaker distance is number 1... Another trick I've learned, is take the distance and multiply that number by 0.875, you'll see an improvement as well.
I have another video that illustrates manual tweeks after calibration, which includes speaker distance, position, crossover points, eq settings, etc. This is only specific to setting the db levels using an SPL meter. YPAO seems to do an excellent job with calibrations - especially with multiple subs. For me, there's not a whole lot that needs changed after calibration. Mainly just crossover points and DBing.
@@PolkFan I wouldn't have thought there would be the need for a lot of tweeking, a foot and a half off. That throws the vocals all off on 2.1 listening. Once corrected, the vocals came to the center and the overall sound was so much better.
@damondhorner1602 Nice. I've measured my distance after calibration and found the settings were spot on. I haven't used any receivers with Audyssey but from my experience with working with people who has Denon, Marantz, YPAO does a better job. I'm running a A2080 now, but eyeballing the A8A. Really don't need it though because the 2080 is such a solid receiver, and there's not much to gain.
Boa tarde
Onde e ideal deixar o volume do subwolfer em qual posicao
Idealmente em torno da posição 2 horas ou 3/4 totalmente para cima.
Tem algum video wue vc mostrar as configurações do seu receiver?
Na verdade não, porque o que funciona para o meu sistema não é necessariamente as melhores configurações para o sistema de outra pessoa. A melhor coisa a fazer é começar com uma calibração multiponto e prosseguir a partir daí. No entanto, no início de cada uma das minhas demonstrações de som de clipes de filme, você verá a maioria das minhas calibrações - pontos de cruzamento, níveis de db, etc.
Is it bad that my front (L & R) are set to +11.0 ? It's at 75DB and I used z instead of c for the test tone.
It simply means either your speakers have a really low sensitivity level or your receiver's amplification power isn't that strong. The trim level is high, but you're at your desired db, so you're good to go. Using the Z scale is fine. I also use Z. Both Z and C are pretty much identical between 20-20. Z is more accurate than C below 20hz.
May i ask what volume do u put when u u calibrate ur speakers 0db or -20
When setting the db levels, first turn your AVR volume to 0, which is reference level on a relative volume display (-70 - 15). If you have an absolute volume display (0-100), set the volume to 80, which is reference level on those systems. Then, run your test tone/pink noise to calibrate the speaker dbs.
What are your thoughts on processors. Do they take the load off av recivers. What exactly does a pre pro do.
A processor does the same thing as an AVR without the amplification element. It wouldn't make sense to use a processor with an AVR. Rather, you'll run a processor with external amps. The benefit in doing so is more power and scalability.
@@PolkFan so using a processor with a separate lets say 5 channel power amp would make more sense.
Do you use a pre-pro yourself.
@NaveedKhan-bs1sc Exactly. The amplification power in AVRs drops significantly in multichannel mode, vs separate amps are constantly strong, keeping the same RMS power all the time.
@NaveedKhan-bs1sc No. I have my front stage on an external amp and processed from the AVR. The rest runs from the AVR.
The Test Tones in your AVR bypasses all forms of room correction. I recommend selecting the ‘Generator’ feature in REW and play periodic pink noise with the room correction mode (e.g. YPOA/Audyssey,Dirac-Live) via your AVR enabled
LFE is actually a separate channel all together. It is 10db ‘Hot’ by design. I would keep it as such. If you interested in calibrating your subs to a specific SPL then you need to disconnect your Left main speaker and play periodic pink noise at the Sub level (selectable in REW) with the Left Speaker selected in REW. Don’t confuse the LFE channel with low frequency output from your subs (I.e. Yes LFE is low frequency by design but most low frequency material is sent to your subs outside of the LFE channel). The material sent to your subs via LFE is material that the ‘mixer’ of the movie/music designated as part of the mixing process)
I'm good with my method. It's effective and works well. I have no need to use REW for speaker DBing. Many HT users don't use REW or even know what it is. If you'd like to post a vid illustrating a better method, I recommend you go forth and concor. What I've outlined in my vid is simple and doable for most HT users. I'm in the business of helping others achieve awesome sound; not complicating matters by advising them to use tools they most likely don't have or the inclination to obtain.
@@PolkFan sorry, I thought you were using the REW SPL meter?
@ts6640 I do. I also pointed users to a handheld SPL meter from my other DBing vid. Which is also effective and only $30 from Amazon. Using REW requires having a machine to host the software; getting a MIC similar to my UMIK-1, getting the proper connection cables, etc. All that for speaker DBing? Just use the handleheld; it works fine. I mainly use REW for my subs. If it wasn't for the fact that I run four subs, and use MiniDSP 2x4HD, I wouldn't use REW.
@@PolkFan Fair enough, but I do think it is important to note that the internal test tones of the AVR bypasses all room correction modes. Since the vast majority of users use some form of room correction I think it is important to use pink noise with whatever mode the user normally listens to movies/music via his or her AVR. Room correction can alter the specific ‘trim levels’ for any given speaker. UA-cam even has several versions periodic pink noise available or one can download samples and play back via USB.
My comment should not be taken a criticism by any means (hell……it is not like the manufacturers of these AVRs are exactly forthright in letting users know of this fact)
By the way, I just subscribed to your channel. I like your content!
@@ts6640 Cool.👍🏾
Hi may I know, example your atmos before +3db, left=74db & right=75.5db its means sound out from this 2 speaker not same, why not get it into same db? I want to learn about this..
The reason you'll see different dB levels like that from calibration is beacuse of multiple factors. Based on the placement of your calibration mic and what it hears during calibration, it'll tell the receiver what adjustments to make in order to make them deliver an even sound to the area of calibration. While the speakers may be identical, the placement of them could differ and possibly cause one speaker to need a db of amplification added in order to make it sound even with the other. For example i may have one front speaker sitting 14.5ft away, angled at 20 degrees, and the other at 13.5ft with the same angle. Both identical speakers, same output, same angel, except one is a foot further from the seating area. That one furthest away may need a tid bit of more volume to sound even with the speaker that's closer. In a perfectly acoustical treated room, the number will be much closer or identical, no adjustments will need to be made. But the majority of our rooms are far from perfect, which is why adjustments are required to overcome the acoustical flaws in our rooms.
@@PolkFanThanks for your info..
@@myhobby3097 You're very welcome. I hope it helps. If not let me know and I'll try to clarify things.
Ok let me know one thing what happens if put all the speakers at the same level for example 75db?
Setting all of your speakers to the same db will result in an uneven sound from your system as a whole. Only in a perfect acoustically optimized environment will that work. The goal is to adjust your speakers so that the listener will hear the sound from all speakers evenly in a given area. Based on the acoustics of your room, that may require speaker A with a higher db level than speakers B and C, etc. Versus setting them all to the same db level, one speaker may sound lower than another -effected by the room acoustics.The majority of our rooms are not perfectly acoustically optimized and therefore our speakers must be adjusted accordingly. This is why system calibrations are a necessity. Your speaker must be adjusted for the acoustics of the environment in which they will play.
As far as what db level to target correlates to how much volume you want to give your system before it reaches the point that satisfies you. I prefer not having to crank the system to reference level (0 on a relative volume display) before it's loud enough to enjoy, so I target 80db. I typically watch movies with the volume on -15. You can target 75 if you like, it simply means your system will be 5db quieter than mine throughout the volume range.
@@PolkFanthank you so much for reply
@@avsolutions212 You're very welcome. Anytime 👍🏾
@@PolkFan ❤️
where can i have some of those printed sheetz? very helpul!
I made those in MS Word. Changed the orientation to landscape and inserted some shapes to match the layout of my setup.
I was on Reddit and they are telling me to set my crossovers to 80 but I have them set to 50 what do you think?
Check this video out: ua-cam.com/video/XOpDEWkIcsg/v-deo.html
@@PolkFan thanks for this
Anytime! Hope it helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
Just curious but why are you using z weighted instead of c?
Z has no weighting and is flat through all frequencies, unlike C that's flat only through 20-20. So for measuring purposes with speakers capable of playing frequencies outside the 20-20 range, you'll get more accurate results. For this particular measurement, it really does matter. You'll get the same thing with either Z or C.
at what level to put your amp to play with the sound level meter
Reference level. For receivers with a relative volume display (-70 - 15), reference level is 0. For receivers with an absolute volume display (0-100), reference level is 80.
I have a yamaha rxa8a amp so I have it but at what level?
@@Mck179 0
@Mick Yamaha gives you the option to change the volume display type, but is default to relative.
Boa noite vc usa diálogo volume vc deixa no 0 +1 +2 ou +3
Boa noite. Se você está se referindo ao aumento do diálogo, deixo em 0. Esse recurso específico funciona melhor para telas de projeção. Ele mistura o som dos alto-falantes centrais e ATMOS para, teoricamente, elevar a posição do diálogo. A intenção é fazer parecer que o diálogo vem de trás da tela de projeção.
did you get yours from amazon ? price?
You can both the hand held SPL meter and the MiniDSP mic from Amazon.
www.amazon.com/miniDSP-UMIK-1-Measurement-Calibrated-Microphone/dp/B00N4Q25R8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1AEW5OSYHPPBH&keywords=mini+dsp&qid=1666195515&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjIzIiwicXNhIjoiMi42MSIsInFzcCI6IjIuMzAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=mini+dsp%2Caps%2C79&sr=8-2&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N7I08EJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
hold on mate. your mic is connected to your computer? or direct to the receiver. i don't see any cable that shows your mic connected to the receiver. 🤔
The mic is connected to the computer via USB. When using REW, you'll also need the calibration file upon first use. The calibration file is available from MiniDSP when you purchase the mic from them. This ensures the most accurate readings.
@@PolkFan 🤜🤛 awesome. thank you for all the information.
@@combojerman28 Absolutely. Anytime! 👊🏾